Electronic Evidence--Absence of Certificate Under Section 65-B Renders Records Inadmissible
Call Detail Records, being electronic evidence, are inadmissible unless accompanied by a certificate under Section 65-B(4) of the Indian Evidence Act. Examination of nodal officers of telecom companies as oral witnesses cannot substitute the mandatory statutory certificate. Further, recovery of currency notes without connection to the crime is not an incriminating circumstance, and breach in chain of custody of seized articles renders an FSL report unreliable. In cases resting on circumstantial evidence, the prosecution must establish a complete chain pointing exclusively to guilt of the accused.
